Don't cut front-line police, officers tell MSPs

Published on Monday 25 October 2010 18:58

POLICE have urged politicians to vote down any Scottish budget that leads to a cut in front-line officers and a rise in crime.

In talks with MSPs, the Scottish Police Federation, representing the rank and file, said it would accept cuts where waste can be found, but not a reduction in funding across the board.

John Swinney, Scottish finance secretary, will unveil his budget in response to the coalition's Comprehensive Spending Review in three to four weeks.

Mr Swinney must decide whether a 4 per cent annual cut to police funding in England and Wales should be extended to Scottish forces.

Calum Steele, general secretary of the federation, said: "If you think you are saving money by cutting, you will just end up putting more into other services.

"Education departments will be paying for buildings that have been vandalised rather than teaching, demand in social services will be stretched by alcohol and drug abuse, and the health service will see a rise in victims and, disappointingly, people going to A&E."

The summit organised by the federation was attended by justice secretary Kenny MacAskill, Scottish Labour and Liberal Democrat justice spokesmen Richard Baker and Robert Brown, and the former Scottish Conservative justice spokesman Bill Aitken whose successor, John Lamont, was unavailable.

Mr Steele challenged them: "If they're not happy with the resources allocated to the police do something about it by voting it (the budget] down. If they think it's OK for crime to rise, then they've got to tell us."

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He added: "We would not welcome any cuts in the police budget that would drive down police officer numbers.

"If the police service is to be expected to take a share of the cuts, it should only be in areas where waste exists."

Mr Aitken said: "We will consider the budget in all it's components. The police budget is not going to escape without a hit, but we would be exceptionally unhappy to see our efforts in the increase of 1,000 police offices disappear.

"Front-line policing has got to be the absolute priority."

Mr Brown said other elements of the justice system should be strengthened to stop crime rising. "Police are hugely significant, but they are one part of the picture and the objective is to reduce crime," said Mr Brown.

"To do that we have to have good penal sentencing which reduces reoffending, which is why replacing short-term sentences was important. And I've been saying for a while that if we could reduce the 42 per cent reoffending rate on community sentences, even to 30 per cent, that would be a huge bonus.

"To do that we have to have community sentences that work, the right support mechanisms, such as drugs and alcohol projects, and effective early interventions."

Mr Baker added: "We absolutely share the federation's concern about the impact the kind of cuts being contemplated.It's time for the Scottish Government to come clean on the scale of what they will be proposing."

But Mr MacAskill said: "We all understand the important role our police perform in keeping our communities safe - a role that has seen recorded crime fall to a 32-year low, along with record numbers of police on our streets. The Scottish Government will set out its police budget in November. The spending review has delivered a bigger-than-expected cut of 1.3 billion to Scotland's budget, but the Scottish Government remains committed to protecting front-line policing services."